A modern rotorcraft display system visually conveys information obtained from various databases, sensors and transponders, organized as “information layers” (e.g., flight path information, Navigational Aids (NAVAID), airspace information, terrain information, weather information, traffic information, and the like). The various information layers are combined to provide a unified three dimensional (3D) graphical display (usually a 3D synthetic vision display) of the terrain overlaid with various symbolic and textual representations. This unified 3D graphical display is part of the rotorcraft display system. During rotorcraft operations, pilots are required to make accurate and fast interpretations of the information presented by all components of the rotorcraft display system.
Contemporary rotorcraft display systems generally utilize a combination of static low resolution and dynamic high resolution geographic information to generate the elevation and terrain component of the 3D graphical display. The 3D graphical display based on these two sources of information is generated on the primary flight display (PFD) of the rotorcraft display system, and the rotorcraft pilot is heavily dependent upon this information during the course of rotorcraft operations.
Landing is a complex rotorcraft operation. In landing operations, a rotorcraft landing point is often a very specific geographic location. The specific geographic location requires a pilot to quickly and fully comprehend the elevation and terrain containing and surrounding the landing point, and to react to all components of the rotorcraft display system with precise actions. The pilot utilizes elevation and terrain information provided by the rotorcraft 3D graphical display during landing operations. In addition to the pressure associated with quickly and fully comprehending the information provided by all components of the rotorcraft display system, the vertical component of elevation and terrain data provided on a 3D graphical display may be especially complex when the terrain surrounding the landing point is unfamiliar or unimproved. The absence of a familiar, reliable vertical reference within the elevation and terrain data makes (1) landing in unfamiliar terrain particularly difficult, and (2) gauging rotorcraft roll (rotation about an axis running from nose to tail) more difficult.
Thus, a method for providing visual vertical reference on a rotorcraft 3D graphical display during rotorcraft landing operations is desired. The desired method will generate two static vertical reference poles of a predetermined height and position them on the rotorcraft display such that a vertical reference as well as roll information may be quickly and easily comprehended by a pilot. This desired method will decrease pilot cognitive workload, and thus increase pilot situational awareness.